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Digital flip-book shows changing cities in time-lapse

By Hal Hodson

Face of change

(Image: Alberto Reyes/wenn.com)

PHOTOGRAPHS may freeze a moment in time, but our world never stops changing. Now a system called Scene Chronology can use photos from across the internet to create a video that shows this change in action.

Kevin Matzen and Noah Snavely from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, created a 3D model of Times Square in New York City and the Akihabara district of Tokyo. Their system then overlaid the models with millions of photos taken between 2011 and 2013 that were automatically pulled in from sites across the web, including photo-sharing website Flickr. The resulting time-lapse videos show billboards and signs winking in and out of existence.

Video: 3D model reconstructs changing cities

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They applied the same technique to 5 Pointz, an old factory building in New York City (pictured), famous for being a graffiti Mecca. Using photos taken over the same period, their model of the building captures artwork in context that would otherwise be lost.

Snavely says Scene Chronology can preserve our cultural heritage. “Our method can help automatically document what art existed, when, and where, as a way of virtually preserving and exploring that site.” The pair exhibited the technique at the European Conference on Computer Vision in Zurich, Switzerland, last month.

Eventually they want to apply the idea across more cities and investigate how artistic styles change over time. It could also capture the deterioration of infrastructure, says Matzen.

This article appeared in print under the headline “Digital flip book exposes our changing world”